Shoot, that was my mistake. The last few posts I reponded to were for a guy and this post with similar topics. I was thinking the OP was a male for my most recent post. I'm on a phone and didn't double check the author. You still will need to eat a surplus, but please ignore the numbers. Those were recommended mins for a guy. I apologize. Thanks for keeping me honest tzanghi.Cw

Now your post makes sense! hahaAs a piece of datum, I'm currently running Texas Method, and on ULC days I take in around 2000-2500 calories and about 2500-3500 on backloading day and have been making gains every week.  I'm still not sold that you need that many calories if you take the supplements Kiefer suggests and rely animal sources to make up most of your diet.  This is just n=1, though!  I can certainly agree a novice strength trainer needs emphasis on eating more.

n=1

I like the math! I think the discussion about some of the specifics is great, but for someone just starting out I just wanted to emphasize the basics of any strength/lifting program. Understanding stuff like insulin response and periodization methods for lifting are great, but for a beginner pretty much anything works. Using CBL'ing and SS will be even better as they are solid programs founded in scientific research and results. For me, it's important not to complicate the issue to the point of being paralyzed - this is true for all levels, but especially beginners. Learning the basics of any strength or eating plan (not a fan of the word diet!) needs to revolve around a solid understanding of the foundation/principles, with details added later. X might be 1% better than Y, but if you don't do either, you're not getting anywhere. This is something I've learned personally, as I always try and create the "best" possible approach or solution, but sometimes that can hurt more than help. For anyone training, the keys to success, which are principles of both SS and CBL'ing, are to work hard consistently, and recover to grow/get stronger. CW

Well said.  I may have been diving too deep into it; I just feel like I would want to know everything up front, even if it is a bit of a sudden, large influx of information.  I can definitely agree with your point, though, and most people may not agree with me on my point.